The William and Mary volleyball team will host VCU on Thursday night at 7 p.m., in the Tribe's first home contest of the 2011 season. The match, scheduled to start at 7 p.m. in Kaplan Arena, comes 11 months to the day after the Tribe's last appearance at home.
Scouting the Tribe
William and Mary is 6-9 and 1-3 in the CAA after sweeping Georgia State 3-0 on Sunday. Paulette Grand Pre (Laguna Beach, Calif.) and Celine Alasomuka (Centreville, Va.) each turned in school-record performances in the win, with Alasomuka breaking her own record for digs in a three-set match with 31, and Grand Pre tying the 13-year-old record for attack attempts with 57. Monika Stanciauskas (Wheaton, Ill.) also had a strong weekend, averaging over 1.6 blocks per set, and Carolina Rivas (Orlando, Fla.) dished out 39 assists against GSU to raise her conference-average to 9 assists per set.
Scouting the Rams
VCU is also 1-3 in the league, and 6-12 overall after falling to Georgia State and beating UNC Wilmington last weekend. The Rams' top offensive threats have been Kristin Boyd at 3.70 kills per set and Courtney Hott, who is averaging 1.92 kills and 1.03 blocks per set. Defensively, seven players are averaging more than 2 digs per set, led by Amanda Friday at 3.37 d/s.
The Series
William and Mary is 41-33 all-time against VCU, and 14-11 in Williamsburg since 1975. For the past three years, however, the two teams have won only on the other team's home court - the Tribe's last win at home was a 3-0 sweep in 2005. That also marked the last time W&M has had back-to-back wins in the series, capping a run of four-straight victories over the 2004 and 2005 seasons.
News and Notes
-This season's 15-match road trip to start the year was the longest ever at W&M, spanning 41 days. Dating back to Senior Night (Nov. 6) last fall, W&M hasn't played an official volleyball match in Kaplan Arena in precisely 11 months (334 days). Before this fall, the previous latest home opener came in 1986, when the Tribe played the first nine matches of the year on the road before returning home on Sept. 26.
-W&M has won seven of the past eight home openers, with three finishing 3-0, four finishing 3-1, and the lone loss coming at 3-2.
-W&M earned a double-dose of weekly honors on Sept. 13, as Celine Alasomuka was named Defensive Player of the Week by the CAA and Manon Murray earned Rookie of the Week honors following their efforts at the Kent State Invitational.
-Three of the Tribe's first four matches this season went to five sets, matching the best-ever pace in school history from the 1986 season. It marked the eighth time since moving to a best-of-five format in 1985 that W&M has had three or more five-set matches in the first 10. Those seasons have tended to turn out well for the Tribe, with an average record of 20-11 and only one losing record among the eight.
-All-time, W&M is 81-74 in five-set matches, with the first being a 3-2 victory over Virginia on Sept. 23, 1980.
Scouting the Tribe
William and Mary is 6-9 and 1-3 in the CAA after sweeping Georgia State 3-0 on Sunday. Paulette Grand Pre (Laguna Beach, Calif.) and Celine Alasomuka (Centreville, Va.) each turned in school-record performances in the win, with Alasomuka breaking her own record for digs in a three-set match with 31, and Grand Pre tying the 13-year-old record for attack attempts with 57. Monika Stanciauskas (Wheaton, Ill.) also had a strong weekend, averaging over 1.6 blocks per set, and Carolina Rivas (Orlando, Fla.) dished out 39 assists against GSU to raise her conference-average to 9 assists per set.
Scouting the Rams
VCU is also 1-3 in the league, and 6-12 overall after falling to Georgia State and beating UNC Wilmington last weekend. The Rams' top offensive threats have been Kristin Boyd at 3.70 kills per set and Courtney Hott, who is averaging 1.92 kills and 1.03 blocks per set. Defensively, seven players are averaging more than 2 digs per set, led by Amanda Friday at 3.37 d/s.
The Series
William and Mary is 41-33 all-time against VCU, and 14-11 in Williamsburg since 1975. For the past three years, however, the two teams have won only on the other team's home court - the Tribe's last win at home was a 3-0 sweep in 2005. That also marked the last time W&M has had back-to-back wins in the series, capping a run of four-straight victories over the 2004 and 2005 seasons.
News and Notes
-This season's 15-match road trip to start the year was the longest ever at W&M, spanning 41 days. Dating back to Senior Night (Nov. 6) last fall, W&M hasn't played an official volleyball match in Kaplan Arena in precisely 11 months (334 days). Before this fall, the previous latest home opener came in 1986, when the Tribe played the first nine matches of the year on the road before returning home on Sept. 26.
-W&M has won seven of the past eight home openers, with three finishing 3-0, four finishing 3-1, and the lone loss coming at 3-2.
-W&M earned a double-dose of weekly honors on Sept. 13, as Celine Alasomuka was named Defensive Player of the Week by the CAA and Manon Murray earned Rookie of the Week honors following their efforts at the Kent State Invitational.
-Three of the Tribe's first four matches this season went to five sets, matching the best-ever pace in school history from the 1986 season. It marked the eighth time since moving to a best-of-five format in 1985 that W&M has had three or more five-set matches in the first 10. Those seasons have tended to turn out well for the Tribe, with an average record of 20-11 and only one losing record among the eight.
-All-time, W&M is 81-74 in five-set matches, with the first being a 3-2 victory over Virginia on Sept. 23, 1980.
